Does anyone read Stella magazine? Of course not. In fact, when I said that I bet your mind immediately thought it was Stella Artois’s version of Acne Paper. For those that don’t know (i.e. everyone) Stella is a magazine tucked away inside the Sunday Telegraph, and they’ve featured a ’10 rules’ like article with Paul Smith.
Does anyone read Stella magazine? Of course not. In fact, when I said that I bet your mind immediately thought it was Stella Artois’s version of Acne Paper. For those that don’t know (i.e. everyone) Stella is a magazine tucked away inside the Sunday Telegraph, and they’ve featured a ’10 rules’ like article with Paul Smith.

Stephen Jones, the milliner extraordinaire and all-round fashion hero, has just released his collection for Spring/Summer 2008 and it is the ‘Cactus Hat’ from this ‘Desert Rose’ JonesBoy collection that takes place as the 19th thing on our WISHLIST.

Brandish favourites D.I.E have recently sneaked out their A/W08 collection. Expanding on the pop culture theme, they’ve now included Andy Warhol amongst the influences for their tees. T-shirts aside, they’ve included shawl collars on check jackets, colour blocked jumpers and geometric print cardigans. View more of the collection after the jump.

Danish designer Kaspar Harup-Hansen is the latest addition to the Topman Lens roster of designers which includes names like Dexter Wong and Carolyn Massey. Topman’s Design Director Gordon Richardson says: “I have admired Kaspar’s use of Japanese fashion combined with Copenhagen street inspiration. He uses twisted well known classics, with special processing and exquisite detailing.” I like the subtle play on silhouette using familiar items like shirts and hoodies.

This is only slightly fashion related, but it was such an interesting story I had to share it. According to the New York Post, Marc Jacobs was asked to leave an art gallery because he looked like he was homeless.

Kriss Van Assche must be shaking in his billowing trousers right now. Hedi Slimane is contemplating a return to fashion, according to DNR news. When asked about his desire to rejoin the fashion the world he answered “Of course, But it has to be right–the right project”. Little else is known about the label, except that it will more than likely be under his own name.

Apparently, news of dVB’s mens denim line being pushed back was either wrong or premature. A rep told New York magazine that the report was inaccurate and that dVb jeans are due to be released on schedule. You can buy yourself some proper mens jeans in Holiday season (I’m guessing that’s around December) this year.

I am going back to Mumbai mid-August and top of my WISHLIST are a pair of swimshorts. I would attempt trunks but don’t share David Gandy’s body (unfortunately) and want to be able to spend this summer without holding the stomach in and clenching the buttocks.

Are you a man who constantly needs to reaffirm his masculinity? Then you’ll love these gun holster shaped Koffski shoulder bags. According to the official website Koffski users are “elegant and resolute, exuding an air of confidence. Women will just love him”. As we all know, the picture of elegance is a man pretending he has a gun on him.

H&M have decided to put a little more elbow grease into their menswear line, focusing on a sort of premium range that will be at thirty stores worldwide. Although no mention is made of COS in the article, it’s likely that the success of their upscale big brother has led them to the conclusion that men will gladly pay more for higher quality.

Despite being a regular visitor to Honeyee.com, I only just noticed their blog the other day. They’ve roped in several noted names, such as Kaws, Visvim’s Hiroki Nakamura, Carri Munden and, bizarrely, John Mayer. These are all great, but the most interesting blog has to be that of A.P.C’s Jean Touitou.

Just in case you weren’t sure it existed, here’s a sneak peek at Kanye West’s upcoming Pastelle line. West wore this hoody to Dior Homme’s Paris show and it’s called ‘The Warrior’, due to its design being inspired by a suit of Armour. The warrior is made from several materials, including leather, felt & mesh, so we can assume Pastelle will be a mid to high end brand. With most assuming that Pastelle would get pushed back, it’s nice to see a little piece of it appear.

We have a love/hate relationship with Fred Perry at Brandish. On the one hand, it’s an iconic British label with a rich cultural history. On the other hand, it pumps out a never-ending stream of collaborations and ill-thought out releases, inexplicably diluting the brand.

I’ve already gone on record as saying we should all be hanging up the battered canvas plimsolls this summer, but the re-emergence of a former superbrand might mean the sand shoe gets a stay of execution on the high street.

This month’s 10 rules are by Marni creative director Consuelo Castiglioni. As usual there are a couple of universal rules (find your own style, don’t follow every trend etc) but she also brings up the vanity of Italian men, liking men is suits that are slightly too small for them and the importance of shoes.

For this season, the genius designer Stefano Pilati has decided to preview the label’s menswear collection in the form of an incredibly arty mini-film called ‘Figures Entwining.’ With a couple of androgynous male and female models, Pilati shows a main male (fully clothed in YSL goodness) being showered by this mass of bodies.

This is big. Bigger than finding out Liz Jones didn’t like Glastonbury (Shock Horror! A woman who calls cats ‘fur babies’ doesn’t like a muddy festival). I’m typing this so hard, I’m about to break my 3 year old Toshiba laptop. Lad Musician. Are. Coming. To. Blackbird. Read that sentence one more time and take it all in. I know, I can’t believe it either.

This new feature highlights the looks we love. Whether it be charity-shop mannequins or fashion week-shots, we will tell you which outfits are rocking our fashion-obsessed worlds. The first of post of this feature looks at Richard Chai’s collection and the one look that I would literally kill for. (Okay, maybe not kill but beat up that glossy male model for sure.)